U.S. patent number 11,240,651 [Application Number 16/025,968] was granted by the patent office on 2022-02-01 for tracking and theft-recovery system for mobile assets.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Discovery Limited. The grantee listed for this patent is Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Discovery Limited. Invention is credited to Hari Balakrishnan, Lewis David Girod, Ilan Ossin.
United States Patent |
11,240,651 |
Ossin , et al. |
February 1, 2022 |
Tracking and theft-recovery system for mobile assets
Abstract
A system for tracking objects includes tracking devices each
attached to an object to be tracked and including a short range
communications module. A server includes a processor and a memory.
A mobile communications device (typically a mobile telephone)
includes memory for storing an identification of the mobile device,
a long range communication module for communication over a cellular
communication network and a short range communications module for
receiving short range signals transmitted from tracking devices.
The mobile telephone also includes a location determination module
to determine the location of the mobile telephone. On receipt of a
short range distress signal from a tracking device, a location is
obtained from the location module and a signal transmitted to the
server including at least the identification of the tracking
device, a time of receipt of the short range signal from the
tracking device and the determined location of the tracking device
when the short range signal was received.
Inventors: |
Ossin; Ilan (Johannesburg,
ZA), Balakrishnan; Hari (Belmont, MA), Girod;
Lewis David (Arlington, MA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Discovery Limited
Cambridge Mobile Telematics |
Sandton
Cambridge |
N/A
MA |
ZA
US |
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Assignee: |
Discovery Limited (Sandton,
ZA)
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (Cambridge, MA)
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Family
ID: |
1000006084574 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/025,968 |
Filed: |
July 2, 2018 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20180332456 A1 |
Nov 15, 2018 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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15355253 |
Nov 18, 2016 |
10015654 |
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62256861 |
Nov 18, 2015 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W
4/027 (20130101); B60R 25/32 (20130101); H04W
4/80 (20180201); H04W 4/029 (20180201); H04W
64/006 (20130101); B60R 25/102 (20130101); H04W
4/40 (20180201); B60R 25/33 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04W
4/80 (20180101); H04W 64/00 (20090101); B60R
25/33 (20130101); H04W 4/40 (20180101); H04W
4/02 (20180101); H04W 4/029 (20180101); B60R
25/32 (20130101); B60R 25/102 (20130101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
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WO |
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Other References
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dated Feb. 24, 2017. cited by applicant .
Written Opinion for PCT/IB16/056950 (WO2017/085674) dated Feb. 24,
2017. cited by applicant .
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by applicant .
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applicant .
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cited by applicant .
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5, 2017. cited by applicant .
U.S. Appl. No. 15/355,253, dated Apr. 12, 2017. cited by applicant
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cited by applicant .
Response dated Apr. 21, 2020 for U.S. Appl. No. 16/025,974. cited
by applicant .
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dated Dec. 4, 2020. cited by applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Yang; Jianxun
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fleit Intellectual Property Law
Bianco; Paul D. Winer; Gary S.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A tracking device comprising: a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
wireless communication module; a long range wireless communication
module; an accelerometer; and a controller connected to the BLE
wireless communication module and to the accelerometer so that when
a vehicle to which the tracking device is connected moves, the
movement is detected by the accelerometer and in response thereto
the controller waits for a period of time to receive an
authentication confirmation message from a smartphone located in a
vehicle, within range of the tracking device, and belongs to an
owner or other authorized user of the vehicle, if the
authentication confirmation message fails to be received within the
period of time the controller controls i) the BLE wireless
communication module to periodically transmit distress messages for
reception by other smartphones within range and located outside the
vehicle that are capable of receiving the distress messages and are
within range and located outside the vehicle; and ii) the long
range wireless communication module to periodically transmit a
status update.
2. The tracking device according to claim 1, wherein the long range
wireless communication module is a LoRa (Low Energy Long Range)
wireless communication protocol over a low power wireless network
or a cellular network.
3. The tracking device according to claim 2, wherein the tracking
device receives via the long range communication module an activate
message from a tracking server and in response thereto the
controller activates the BLE wireless communication module to
transmit periodic distress messages via the BLE wireless
communications module.
4. The tracking device according to claim 1, wherein the tracking
device further comprises a memory for storing a unique identifier
of the tracking device, and wherein the BLE wireless communication
module periodically transmit distress messages with the unique
identifier of the tracking device.
5. The tracking device according to claim 4, wherein the
accelerometer measures the acceleration of the tracking device and
thereby of the vehicle and stores acceleration data in the memory,
and wherein the controller controls the BLE wireless communication
module to transmit a sequence of time stamped acceleration data to
a mobile communications device.
6. The tracking device according to claim 5, wherein the tracking
device also provides driving behaviour data.
7. The tracking device according to claim 1, wherein the other
smartphones each contain a location module for reporting location
information and the distress messages to a server.
8. A tracking device including: a short range wireless
communication module; a long range wireless communication module;
an accelerometer; and a controller connected to the short range
wireless communication module and to the accelerometer so that when
an a vehicle to which the tracking device is connected moves, the
movement is detected by the accelerometer and in response thereto
the controller waits for a period of time to receive an
authentication confirmation message from a smartphone located in a
vehicle, within range of the tracking device, and belongs to an
owner or other authorized user of the vehicle, if no authentication
confirmation message is received within the period of time the
controller controls i) the short range wireless communication
module to periodically transmit distress messages to other
smartphones within a transmission threshold of the short range
wireless communication module and located outside the vehicle,
wherein the other smartphones that are capable of receiving the
distress messages and the other smartphones each contain a location
module for reporting the location information along with the
distress messages to a server; and ii) the long range wireless
communication module to periodically transmit a status update.
9. The tracking device of claim 8, wherein controlling the short
range wireless communication module to periodically transmit
distress messages is further in response to the controller
determining that an authentication confirmation message comprising
data authenticated by a remote server fails to have been received
from the smartphone located within the vehicle within the period of
time.
10. The tracking device of claim 8, wherein after at least a first
distress message has been transmitted the controller determines if
the authentication confirmation message has been received from the
smartphone located within the vehicle, where in response to
determining that the authentication confirmation message has been
received from the smartphone located within the vehicle, the
controller suppresses the periodic transmission of the distress
messages, and in response to determining that the authentication
confirmation message fails to have been received from the
smartphone located within the vehicle, the controller continues the
periodic transmission of the distress messages.
11. The tracking device of claim 8, wherein the controller further
generates a single-use identifier and sends it to the smartphone
located within the vehicle as part of an authentication process
between the tracking device and the smartphone located within the
vehicle, and the single-use identifier is valid for a duration of a
connection between the controller and the smartphone located within
the vehicle.
12. The tracking device of claim 11, wherein the controller further
generates a single-use identifier and sends it to the smartphone
located within the vehicle as part of an authentication process
between the tracking device and the smartphone located within the
vehicle, and the single-use identifier is valid for a duration of a
connection between the controller and the smartphone located within
the vehicle.
13. The tracking device of claim 12, wherein the authentication
process between the tracking device and the smartphone located
within the vehicle further includes the smartphone located within
the vehicle signing, before sending to the server, the single-use
identifier with a symmetric key shared by a server and the tracking
device.
14. The tracking device of claim 13, wherein the authentication
process between the tracking device and the smartphone located
within the vehicle further includes the smartphone located within
the vehicle hashing, before sending to the server, the single-use
identifier with the symmetric key.
15. The tracking device of claim 8, wherein the short range
wireless communication module is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
wireless communication module and a location of the tracking device
is determined by the location module of the other smartphones and
without the use of a location module in the tracking device.
16. A tracking device comprising: a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
wireless communication module; an accelerometer; and a controller
connected to the BLE wireless communication module and to the
accelerometer so that when a vehicle to which the tracking device
is connected moves, the movement is detected by the accelerometer
and in response thereto the controller waits for a period of time
to receive an authentication confirmation message from a smartphone
located in a vehicle, within range of the tracking device, and
belongs to an owner or other authorized user of the vehicle, if the
authentication confirmation message fails to be received within the
period of time the controller controls the BLE wireless
communication module to periodically transmit distress messages for
reception by other smartphones within range and located outside the
vehicle that are capable of receiving the distress messages and are
within range and located outside the vehicle, wherein the
controller further generates a single-use identifier and sends it
to the smartphone located within the vehicle as part of an
authentication process between the tracking device and the
smartphone located within the vehicle, and the single-use
identifier is valid for a duration of a connection between the
controller and the smartphone located within the vehicle.
17. The tracking device according to claim 16, wherein the
authentication process between the tracking device and the
smartphone located within the vehicle further includes the
smartphone located within the vehicle sending the single-use
identifier to a server.
18. The tracking device according to claim 17, wherein the
authentication process between the tracking device and the
smartphone located within the vehicle further includes the
smartphone located within the vehicle signing, before sending to
the server, the single-use identifier with a symmetric key shared
by the server and the tracking device.
19. The tracking device according to claim 18, wherein the
authentication process between the tracking device and the
smartphone located within the vehicle further includes the
smartphone located within the vehicle hashing, before sending to
the server, the single-use identifier with the symmetric key.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present application relates to a tracking system for mobile
assets, including an option to recover stolen assets, particularly
for motor vehicles.
Motor vehicle theft is a significant problem in many parts of the
world. Current vehicle tracking devices either make use of a "deep
install" black box device that is physically fitted to the vehicle;
they also include a wide-area wireless radio frequency (RF)
interface such as a cellular radio or some other proprietary radio
frequency system for the device to communicate via a communication
network with computers that track the location of vehicles. The use
of such a network increases the cost of operations of the asset
tracking system.
In addition, prior solutions to the theft problem require a human
(e.g., the vehicle's owner) to discover that the vehicle has been
stolen, to then send a message to an operations center to report
theft. Then, in response, the location of the stolen vehicle may be
found using the location data periodically sent to a server under
the control of the operations center, or sent in response to a
query made to the black box in the car. This process may take
several hours or even days because of the delay involved in a human
discovering that the vehicle may have been stolen.
Moreover, in the field of insurance telematics, an insurer may wish
to monitor driving behaviour of a vehicle with the owner's consent,
in order to determine how a vehicle is being driven by a driver
provide insurance discounts to good drivers and create incentives
and programs for safer driving.
This present invention provides an improved asset tracking and
theft recovery system that (1) does not mandate a wide-area
wireless communication module on the tracking device inside a
vehicle, (2) whether or not a wide-area wireless communication
module is used on the tracking device, supports the ability to
pre-emptively discover within a few minutes of movement that a
vehicle is running without the presence of an authorized user of
the vehicle (and hence may possibly be in the process of being
stolen), and (3) as an option, embeds the ability to monitor the
relevant driving behaviour elements required by the insurer without
the need to attach the device to the vehicle harness.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a tracking
device including: a short range wireless communication module; an
accelerometer; and a controller connected to the wireless
communication module and to the accelerometer so that when an
object to which the device is connected in use moves, the movement
is detected by the accelerometer and in response thereto the
controller waits for a period of time to receive an authentication
confirmation message from the mobile communications device, if no
authentication confirmation message is received within the period
of time the controller controls the communication module to
periodically transmit distress messages via the short range
wireless communications module.
The short range wireless communication module may be a Bluetooth
communication module.
In one example, the tracking device further includes a long range
low energy wireless communication module typically in the form of a
LoRa (Low Energy Long Range) wireless communication module for
communication over a LoRa wireless network or a cellular
network.
In one embodiment, the tracking device receives via the long range
communication module an activate message from a tracking server and
in response thereto the controller activates the short range
wireless communication module to transmit periodic distress
messages via the short range wireless communications module.
The tracking device may further include a memory for storing a
unique identifier of the device and wherein the accelerometer
measures the acceleration of the tag and thereby of the vehicle and
stores acceleration data in the memory and wherein the controller
controls the communication module to transmit a sequence of time
stamped acceleration data to a mobile communications device.
In this way the tracking device also provides driving behaviour
data.
According to another example embodiment of the present invention
there is provided a system for tracking objects including: a
plurality of tracking devices each attached to an object to be
tracked and including a short range communications module; a
server; a mobile communications device including: a memory for
storing therein an identification of the mobile device; a long
range communication module for communication over a cellular
communication network; a short range communications module for
receiving short range signals transmitted from tracking devices,
the received signal including at least an identification of the
tracking device; a location determination module to determine the
location of the mobile communication device; and a processor for:
on receipt of a short range distress signal from a tracking device,
obtaining a location from the location module; and transmitting a
signal to the server via the long range communication module, the
signal including at least the identification of the tracking
device, a time of receipt of the short range signal from the
tracking device and the determined location of the tracking device
when the short range signal was received.
The short range communications module may be a Bluetooth
communication module which receives a Bluetooth distress signal
from a tracking device.
In one example the mobile communications device is a mobile
telephone.
The mobile communications device and the server may both include a
long range communications module which enable the mobile
communications device and the server to communicate directly with
one another.
The serve may further include a memory associated with the server,
wherein the server further: receives an authentication request from
a mobile communications device, the authentication request
including an identification of a tracking device and an
identification of the mobile communications device from which the
request is received; accesses the memory to determine if the mobile
communications device from which the authentication request is
received is an authorised mobile communications device for the
tracking device; and if the mobile communications device is an
authorised device then transmitting an authentication message back
to the mobile communications device via the long range
communication modules.
Upon receipt of an authentication message, the mobile communication
device transmits a cancel message via the short range communication
modules to the tracking device to thereby stop the tracking device
from transmitting distress messages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows an example tracking system;
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a tracking device used in
the tracking system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a mobile communications
device used in the tracking system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a server used in the
tracking system of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5 shows two vehicles passing one another on a standard
residential road as per a road test that was conducted to evaluate
the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
The present invention relates to a tracking device and a tracking
system within which the device operates.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, the tracking device 10 is
shown for use in tracking a motor vehicle 12. However, it will be
appreciated that the tracking device 10 could be used to track
other suitable assets.
In the illustrated example embodiment, the tracking device 10 is in
the form of a tag that typically includes a physical connector (not
shown) by means of which the device can be physically attached to a
motor vehicle which is to be tracked.
Referring to FIG. 2, the tracking device 10 includes a short range
wireless communication module 14 typically in the form of a
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication module.
The tracking device 10 also includes an accelerometer 18, which
measures acceleration of the tracking device 10, and thereby
measures the acceleration of any object to which the tracking
device 10 is connected in use. The function of this accelerometer
will be described in more detail below.
The tag may have additional sensors as well, including a gyroscope
and compass.
In the preferred embodiment, the tracking device 10 is
battery-operated and so includes a battery 24.
The tracking device 10 also includes a memory 20 in which at least
a unique identifier of the tracking device 10 is stored.
The tracking device 10 is used to track a stolen object using a
plurality of mobile communication devices typically in the form of
mobile telephones 26, which are encountered in the vicinity of the
stolen object.
By way of overview, in the first example the tracking device 10
uses the short range communication module 14 to transmit a distress
signal including an identity of the tracking device 10 obtained
from memory 20. The distress messages are then received by mobile
communication devices 26, which are used to determine the locations
traversed by the tracking device 10 (and therefore of the stolen
object), as will be explained in more detail below.
Referring back to FIG. 1, in one example embodiment the object to
which the tracking device 10 is connected is a motor vehicle 12. If
the motor vehicle is determined to be stolen (this will be
explained in more detail below), mobile communications devices in
the form of mobile telephones 26 in passing motor vehicles or with
people on roadsides or in nearby buildings are typically used to
receive BLE distress messages transmitted from the tracking device
10.
The BLE distress message may be received directly by the mobile
communications device 26 or may be transmitted from one tracking
device 10 to another tracking device 10 (possibly multiple times)
before terminating in a mobile communications device 26.
In this example a threshold of allowable hops are set before the
signal reaches a mobile communications device 26. Alternatively, or
in addition, a time bound may be set, i.e., any number of hops is
allowable as long as the current time is not more than T minutes
from the origination time of the message. If more than T minutes
have elapsed, then the message will be discarded and won't be
forwarded further. This is because the information about the stolen
object's current location, inferred from a location/positioning
module 36 (such as GPS) on the mobile communications device, will
not be pertinent if the time difference is too large.
In any event, FIG. 3 illustrates the mobile communications device
26 in more detail. It will be appreciated that this device will
typically be a so-called smartphone. It may also be a tablet device
or a dedicated device purpose-built and installed in
commonly-driven areas (e.g., fuel refuelling stations).
The mobile communications device 26 includes a memory 28 for
storing therein a unique identifier of the mobile communications
device 24.
A long range communications module 30 is used by the mobile
communications device 26 for communication over a cellular
communications network 32 (shown in FIG. 1). It could also use a
Wi-Fi network or any other data network available on the mobile
communications device 26.
A short range communications module 34 is used by the mobile
communications device 26 for receiving short range signals
transmitted from the tracking device 10.
It will be appreciated that in the illustrated embodiment, the
short range communications module 34 is a Bluetooth Low Energy
(BLE) communications module.
A location determination module 36 is used to determine the
location of the mobile communication device 26. This module 36 is
typically a Location Provider (e.g., a global positioning system
such as GPS) module that is able to determine the location of the
mobile communications device 26 at any given time. It may also be a
so-called network location provider that obtains location
information using cellular or Wi-Fi signals, or using a combination
of GPS and network location.
The mobile communications device 26 typically also includes a user
interface 38 for receiving inputs from the user and a display 40
for displaying information to the user.
A processor 42 controls the operation of the mobile communications
device 26 so that on receipt of a short range BLE signal containing
the unique identifier of a tracking device 10, a location at that
time is obtained from the location module 36.
Because the mobile communications device 26 must have been within
close proximity to the tracking device 10 to receive the signal
transmitted from the tracking device 10, the location of the mobile
communications device 26 is in fact substantially the same location
as the tracking device 10.
In this way, the location of the tracking device 10 can effectively
be determined when a mobile communications device 26 is nearby.
Once a location is determined, a message is transmitted by the
mobile communications device 26 via the long range communication
module 30 over the cellular network 32 to a server 44 with an
associated memory 46.
The message will include at least the received unique identifier of
the tracking device 10, a time of receipt of the short range
wireless signal from the tracking device 10, and the determined
location of the tracking device 10 when the short range signal was
received.
Referring to FIG. 4, the server 44 includes a number of
modules.
In one example embodiment, the modules described may be implemented
by a machine-readable medium embodying instructions which, when
executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform any of the
methods described above.
In another example embodiment the modules may be implemented using
firmware programmed specifically to execute the method described
herein.
It will be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention
are not limited to such an architecture, and could equally well
find application in a distributed system, or a peer-to-peer,
architecture system. Thus the modules illustrated could be located
on one or more servers operated by one or more institutions.
In any event, a communications module 48 allows the server 44 to
communicate over a communications network 32 (such as the Internet)
to the mobile communications device 26.
A processor of the server 50 includes an analysing module that
continuously evaluates received messages and in this way is able to
track the movement of tracking device 10 via the location
information data received.
Thus it will be appreciated that the tracking system of the present
invention effectively provides a "crowd-sourced tracking model"
that relies on the capability of mobile communications devices in
the general vicinity of a tracked object to connect to a tracking
device via BLE and to determine the position of itself via GPS.
There are various ways in which the tracking device 10 can be
placed in a distressed mode where it is periodically transmitting
distress signals.
In a first embodiment, the tracking device 10 includes a long range
communication module 16 which is used by the server 44 to switch
the device 10 into distress mode.
The long range wireless communication module 16 is typically in the
form of a cellular or LoRa wireless communication module or
equivalent.
The long-range wireless communication module 16 receives an
"activate" message transmitted from the server 44 and in response
thereto the processor 22 controls the tracking device 10 to put the
device in a distressed mode whereby the short range wireless
communication module 14 transmits messages or transmits messages
more frequently indicating that the asset must be tracked and
found.
In this embodiment, in addition to using BLE transmissions received
by a nearby mobile communications device 26 to determine the
location of the tracking device 10, the location of the tracking
device 10 can be approximately obtained and tracked using location
information inferred from long range wireless signals of the
cellular network, LoRa, or equivalent. In this scenario the short
range and long range communication functionality of the tracking
device 10 are used to complement one another.
In this example embodiment, the security protocol is further
enhanced in that the identity of a "master" mobile communication
device (e.g., the smartphone belonging to the owner or other
authorized users of the vehicle, which would run an application
capable of processing signals sent by the tracking device 10) will
be stored in the memory 20 of the tracking device 10. Should the
vehicle then be moving and the "master" mobile communication device
not be present in the vehicle, the tracking device 10 using the
LoRa module 16 would be able to initiate a distress signal to the
server 44 and turn the tracking device into "distress mode."
In one example, the controller 22 checks, via the short range
wireless communication module 14, if a master mobile communications
device is located within range of the tracking device.
If a master mobile communications device is located within range of
the tracking device (e.g., because it connects to the tracking
device over BLE), then the controller 22 will not activate the
short range communication module 14 to periodically transmit short
range wireless messages.
If a master mobile communications device is not located within
range of the tracking device then the controller 22 will transmit a
message via the long range communication module 16 requesting from
a server a status of the object to which the device is attached and
then receiving a status message back from the server.
In addition, the following is an example of a policy applied to the
system that would enable tracking of the module in this
embodiment:
1) The tracking device 10 would communicate with the in-vehicle
mobile smartphone each time the vehicle starts to move based on a
movement algorithm embedded in the device 10.
2) After T minutes into the trip the tracking device 10 using the
long range communication network 16 would initiate a connection to
check in with the server 44 to determine if that vehicle has been
reported stolen. Should this be the case, the tracking device 10 is
put into the distress mode whereby it will send more frequently the
Bluetooth Low Energy ID packets and may communicate more frequently
via the long-range communications infrastructure in order to
provide information to triangulate the tracking device's
location.
3) All receiving mobile communication devices 26 are also
instructed configured to "read" these distress signals and report
the location to the server 44.
In another embodiment the device 10 operates with only the
short-range communications module 14 operating in conjunction with
a master mobile communications device as follows. It will be
appreciated that this embodiment will have lower costs of
implementation and operations compared to using the long-range
communications capability.
When the vehicle starts moving the tracking device 10 will attempt
to authenticate with a mobile device/smartphone 26 in the
vehicle.
The movement of the vehicle is detected as described above using a
movement algorithm embedded in the device 10 based on the magnitude
of detected acceleration exceeding a threshold for a certain period
of time and this identifies that the vehicle is being driven.
Once movement is detected, the device 10 will communicate with the
mobile device 26 via the short range mobile communications modules
14 and 32 and the tracking device 10 will transmit its unique
identifier to the mobile communications device 26.
It will be appreciated that in order for this to occur a software
application is executing on the processor 42 of the mobile
communications device 26.
By way of this executable application, the mobile communications
device 26 may authenticate the tracking device 10 by comparing the
received identification with an identification stored in memory 20.
If these match, then an "authenticated" message is transmitted back
to the tracking device 10.
Alternatively, or in addition, the mobile communications device 26
will check with the server 44 if it is allowed to authenticate the
device 10. In one example, this is done by the mobile device 26
transmitting the serial number of the device 10 via the mobile
communication device's long-range communications module 30,
together with an identification of the mobile communications device
26 to the server 44.
Upon receipt of the data via the communications module 48, the
server 44 will access the memory 46 to ascertain if the tracking
device 10 is associated with the mobile communications device 26
from which the data has been received.
If the device 10 is associated with the mobile device 26, a message
is transmitted back to the mobile device 26 confirming this
fact.
Upon receipt of this data message, the mobile device 26
communicates with the device 10 confirming this authentication.
If the device 10 does not receive an authentication message, it
will enter distress mode.
The operation of the system in distress mode is time-based: if a
message is not received within a specific time, then the tracking
device 10 will enter distress mode.
In distress mode, the device 10 will transmit distress messages
periodically as described above.
A more detailed explanation of this embodiment is as follows.
The accelerometer 18 on the tracking device 10 detects motion of
the object based on the magnitude of detected acceleration
exceeding a threshold for a certain period of time and this
identifies that the vehicle is being driven.
Once movement is detected, the device 10 will communicate with the
mobile communications device 26 via the short range mobile
communications modules 14 and 32. In the example of using the
Bluetooth communication protocol, a Bluetooth connection is
established between the device 10 and the mobile device 26.
Communication between the device 10 and the mobile communications
device 26 will now occur via this established Bluetooth
connection.
After T minutes without receiving an authenticated "cancel alarm"
command (described below), the tracking device 10 will begin
transmitting a "distress message" that includes the unique
identifier of the tracking device 10.
This distress message is transmitted in one of two ways: a. In one
embodiment, it is transmitted using the highest power setting
available on the short-range wireless communication module 14. b.
In another embodiment, it is transmitted using the long-range
wireless communication module 16 if such a module is present on the
tracking device c. It may also be sent on both if both options are
available.
The transmission of distress messages is cancelled if a mobile
communications device 26 connects to the tracking device 10 and
transmits an authenticated and valid "cancel alarm" command to the
tracking device 10.
If such a message is received by tracking device 10 via the BLE
communications module, then the tracking device 10 will cease
transmitting distress messages for as long as the mobile
communications device 26 remains connected to the tracking device
10 via the short range communications protocol as described
above.
As explained below, only mobile communication devices belonging to
authorized owners or operators of the vehicle are able to send a
valid and authenticated "cancel alarm" message.
The following method is used to produce authenticated and valid
"cancel alarm" messages for the mobile communications device 26 to
send to the tracking device 10 over a connection to the short-range
wireless module (BLE) 14. As the mobile communications device 26 is
assumed to be untrusted, the method relies on a shared security
secret between the tracking device 10 and the server 44.
This is described as follows. Suppose a mobile communications
device 26 belonging to a user authorized to be present in the
vehicle while it is driving.
The mobile communications device 26 connects to the tracking device
10 via the short-range wireless module 14 (BLE).
When the tracking device 10 accepts the connection it generates a
one-time connection nonce (i.e., a single-use identifier) that is
valid for the duration of the connection and sends it to the
connected mobile communications device 26.
The mobile communications device 26 sends a request to the server
44 via the long range communications modules 30 and 48 containing
the unique identifier of the tracking device 10 and the connection
nonce, as well as the user's credentials that are available to the
mobile communications device (in the mobile application being
used).
The server 44 verifies the user's credentials and looks up the
mobile communications device 26 and tracking device 10 in its
database. If the mobile communications device 26 is authorized to
cancel an alert on the specified tracking device 10, then it
constructs a valid "cancel alarm". This message is signed with a
signature that incorporates a hash of the following information: a.
the one-time connection nonce b. the unique identifier of the
tracking device c. the text of the message itself d. the signature
is signed with a symmetric secret key shared by the server 44 and
the tracking device 10, that is unique to the tracking device
10.
The signed message is returned to the mobile communications device
26, and the mobile device transmits the message to the tracking
device 10 to cancel the alarm.
The alarm remains suppressed only as long as the authorized mobile
communications device remains connected.
On a new connection, a new nonce is chosen, invalidating any
previously transmitted "cancel alarm" messages.
Note that the "cancel alarm" method is orthogonal to the method
used to send distress messages. The latter may be sent via a
short-range wireless module 14 or long-range module 16. In both
cases, the "cancel alarm" method is useful to transmit distress
messages proactively and only when the vehicle is not being used by
an authorized user.
Thus it will be appreciated that in all cases, the asset (motor
vehicle) 12 will be in distress mode and moving (being driven) with
the BLE module 14 periodically transmitting messages. Each message
will include at least the identification of the tracking device 10
obtained from the memory 20.
This tracking device 10 now becomes discoverable by any suitable
device which is close enough to the tracking device 10 to receive
the message transmitted from the tracking device 10 via its
short-range communication module (e.g., BLE).
Any smartphones, tablets, or other devices running an application
that embeds in it the ability to process these distress messages
will be listening for this specific distress mode as described
above, and will send their locations when they pick up a tag in its
vicinity in this distressed mode back to the server 44 via the
mobile communications network. This capability enables "crowd
searching", i.e., the ability to detect and recover theft using
devices carried and used by people in their daily lives. Of course,
some of the mobile communication devices could also be dedicated
infrastructure devices located in locations that are commonly
driven.
Should a tag be in distressed mode for a number of days it can turn
itself off to preserve the battery life on the device 10. It may
also be done if the user is not complying, i.e., does not drive
with their phone or keeps the short-range radio (e.g., Bluetooth)
off on their mobile communications device 26.
Additionally, command messages will be able to be passed through
the crowd to the device 10 as well, i.e., to turn tags in and out
of distress mode.
Referring to FIG. 5, a road test was conducted to evaluate the
present invention with two vehicles on a standard residential road.
Several scenarios may be considered for this model but the one
tested was of two vehicles passing each other in different
directions on a road.
A BLE-USB device from Texas Instruments.TM. was used as the
recording device. This device is based on the CC2540 from Texas
Instruments.TM.. Data recording was done with SmartRF Packet
Sniffer from Texas Instruments.TM. with a filter set on
advertisement type and address.
The BLE modules were first placed in both vehicles front window
area where good line-of-sight could be achieved. This was chosen to
verify the ranges claimed by the hardware manufacturer. Both
vehicles traveled at a speed of 60 km/h.
In the second test, one module was placed on the central console
between the front seats where a phone might normally be placed and
the second module was placed on top of the sun visor. This
presented slight interference by the vehicle's body but also
worked.
In a third test, module one was again on the central console and
the second was placed in the glove box of the second vehicle. This
would represent a more realistic scenario for the location of the
tracking device 10 in the vehicle.
The last results correspond to a 50 m link radius when placed in
the glove box. The data shows 49 BLE advertisement packets received
in the 3 second time span. Most of the packets were received at the
lowest interval, meaning there were no dropped packets.
Thus the tests indicate sufficient range with BLE radios.
In addition, two devices were evaluated using different antennas.
One module used a PCB etched antenna while the other module used a
BLE module with a chip antenna on-board.
The test revealed a better performance with the PCB antenna
compared to the chip antenna.
A power consumption calculation for the tracking device 10 was done
based on the following model:
1. The tracking device 10 will be in sleep mode by default.
2. The accelerometer 18 will be active.
3. The accelerometer 18 will wake up the processor 22 when movement
is detected and the movement pattern must be considered by the
processor.
4. The processor 22 will try to locate one or more mobile
communication devices 26 via BLE from an internal list of
previously registered "master" mobile devices.
a. If successful the tracking device 10 will not enter into the
distress mode.
b. If unsuccessful the long range communication module 16 will send
a LoRa status request to the server 44.
5. Processor 22 will then evaluate LoRa Rx for a recovery
activation status from the server.
a. If successful the processor 22 will transmit distress messages
on the BLE radio interface 14.
b. If unsuccessful, the processor 22 will continue to send LoRa
status requests on the long range communication network, as well as
trying to locate a known master mobile smartphone.
i. If a known master mobile communication device is found, the
system reverts to sleep state.
ii. If a known master mobile communication device is not found, the
processor 22 will continue to send LoRa status request.
6. On average, assume that the vehicle will be driven 4 times per
day (i.e., 4 BLE phone verifications).
8. When stolen the BLE advertisement interval will be 20 ms+(0 to
10) ms.
9. The LoRa status request will be sent once every hour. When
stolen the LoRa request interval will be set by the server.
The parameters of the system should be chosen so that the energy
consumption of the device is very low and the battery would not
need to be replaced for 5 years or more. This is feasible with
current technology.
If BLE alone is used for tracking the efficiency would be
proportional to the advertisement rate and would be even
better.
Further testing carried out using the applicant's existing mobile
telephone software application executing on driver's mobile
telephones and some test devices 10 transmitting via Bluetooth were
carried out.
The test was done using a crowd of about 80 000 mobile telephone
users in an urban area (in Johannesburg, South Africa) and three
test devices deployed in vehicles in constant distress mode.
The tags were detected on average between around 800 and 3000 times
per day, which provides strong evidence for the effectiveness of
the proposed invention in practice.
In addition to the above, the tracking device 10 in one example
embodiment also captures driving data and transmits this back to
the server 44.
An example of a "tag" device providing this functionality is
described in the applicant's published PCT patent application
number PCT/IB2014/065736, the contents of which are incorporated
herein by reference.
In brief, the accelerometer 18 measures the acceleration of the
tracking device 10 and thereby of the vehicle 12 when the vehicle
is moving and reports the data to the microcontroller 22.
The tracking device 10 records acceleration and other sensor data.
It streams that data to a mobile device 26 over the short-range
wireless communication link, which will in turn process that data
and transmits at least a portion of the received and processed data
via communications network 32 to the server 44 as described in PCT
patent application number PCT/IB2014/065736.
With the telematics functionality incorporated into the tracking
device 10, it will be appreciated that a tag is provided which can
provide both driver monitoring functionality as well as tracking
functionality. It is, of course, also possible two or more such
devices (tags and tracking devices) to concurrently be operational
in a vehicle. It may even be desirable to have separate devices for
stolen vehicle tracking and for driver quality measurement.
Thus the present invention provides an improved tracking device and
tracking system potentially combined with the ability to measure
the driving behaviour for the vehicle.
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